All the Umbrellas in London
by Purple Sky Juliet
Summary: Arthur goes out on a rainy London day to pick Alfred up from the airport on last-minute notice. USUK.


It rained frequently in London. This was a fact. He quite enjoyed the rain; it gave him time to think and reflect, muse over frivolous things or ponder deep life questions. But he wasn't entirely excited that he had to wait in the cold, grey, rainy day at the airport to pick up a certain American. He'd awoken to five missed calls from Alfred and an equal number of voicemails.

"_Hey, Artie! So…uhm…I'm flying into London. I…uhm…have a work thing. In London. On a Sunday. Yeah! So…can you come get me from the airport when I land? Beep. Hey, Artie, my flight's been delayed, but I'm still gonna be there around 8 AM your time! So, yeah, please call me back? Beep. You sleep like a rock, Artie, I swear! Anyway, I'm boarding. I'll see you at the airport, right? And...uhm…nevermind. I'll see you in London. Beep. Hey, Artie, we're about to take off. Uhm…I'll see you soon, okay? I…uhm…wanted to…oh, got to go, we're taking off! Beep. Nevermind, Artie, we're not taking off yet. But…yeah…I'll see you soon, call me back!"_

If he was flying in for work, Arthur didn't understand why the American embassy didn't just send a car to the airport for Alfred. Sure, Arthur frequently picked him up, but he usually had had notice sent ahead and not several phone messages accumulated whilst he was sleeping as his only warning. He'd rushed around this morning, desperately trying to get dressed in time to meet Alfred outside the airport at their usual spot. He was lucky he remembered his umbrella; the majority of London seemed to have one today to shield themselves from the rain. The area where he was waiting was a sea of umbrellas, ranging from brightly colored to drab grey. His was a classic black, a very reliable old thing he'd gotten many years before.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he picked up the phone to read the text message from Alfred.

"_U here?"_

"_Yes, at the usual spot."_

"_Ok, c u soon!"_

He snapped the phone shut and put it back in his pocket, waiting impatiently for the American to come bounding out of the doors to the terminals and baggage claim. This was a prime time for flights; even more people flooded the area, their umbrellas obscuring his view of the doors that lead out of the airport. He frowned. How on Earth was he supposed to see when Alfred came out of the doors now? He stood on his tiptoes and craned his neck in an attempt to look over the crowd, but he ultimately failed.

"Arthur? Are you here?" a boisterous voice called out in a quintessentially American accent.

"Yes, Alfred, I'm over here!" he replied. He felt silly for calling out like this, like it was some game of Marco Polo, or whatever it was called Alfred insisted they play when they went to the ocean last summer.

"Over where?"

"The usual spot, you git! By the car lane!"

"Don't get so annoyed, Artie!"

Arthur sighed and pushed through the crowd somewhat in the direction of Alfred's voice. He politely apologized for his pushing as he squeezed through whatever spaces he could find in between people, holding up his umbrella slightly to prevent smashing people in the head. He ended up breaking out of the crowd on the other side, with no Alfred to be found.

"Alfred?" he asked, turning back to the crowd, looking for the characteristic blonde locks with the unruly piece of hair sticking up. He scanned the dispersing crowd that lessened as people flooded into the airport or got into their cars and drove away. Still, he could not spot Alfred. His thick eyebrows furrowed in annoyance as he scanned the area. He took a few steps forward to head back to their usual meeting spot when a warm hand grabbed his.

"Found ya, Artie!" a voice chimed brightly, and Arthur turned around to see Alfred grinning brightly at him, his blue eyes twinkling. "I thought I lost you!"

"Don't sneak up on me!" Arthur snapped, slowly pulling his hand out of Alfred's grip.

"Sorry," Alfred apologized and grinned sheepishly. "I didn't think you'd be scared by something like that, Artie."

"Shut up, you didn't startle me," Arthur shot back, slightly huffy, his cheeks red still from his hand being grasped. "Come on, Alfred, let's go to the train station. Where do you need to go to for work?"

"Uhm...well…" Alfred rubbed the back of his neck. "They…uh…canceled…my business trip. But I was already on the plane when I got the e-mail, so I figured…maybe we could just hang out for a couple days? My flight back isn't until Tuesday."

Arthur just looked at him, one eyebrow raised. Alfred shrugged. "It'll be fun, Artie! We haven't hung out in a long time!"

"Yes…that's true…." Arthur muttered distantly. The government had canceled his meetings? That almost never happened. Nations like themselves were oftentimes hard to book due to their rapidly paced schedules and involvement in nearly all departments of the government, so meetings were considered top priority. Had Alfred not even come for a meeting? He couldn't possible have come just to visit and lied about it, could he? There was no way Alfred could have known Arthur had been missing him. He'd gotten drunk a week or so ago, and that sometimes led to drunk dialing, but Alfred surely would have teased him had he slurred a drunken plea to him to spend some more time with him. Arthur shook the thought out of his head and locked away the mere thought of something so embarrassing.

"They also canceled my hotel reservation…so…can I stay in your guest room?"

"Yes," Arthur sighed, although inside he was smiling fondly. "Come along."

Alfred whooped in joy and grinned brightly, a contagious grin that broke Arthur's slight frown into a half-smile. Alfred slung his arm around Arthur's shoulders, ducking under the umbrella so they could share.

"Can we go to St. James's Square again, and feed the doves? That was totally awesome. It's even supposed to be sunny tomorrow. Sun in London, isn't that cool?"

"Yes," Arthur replied as he walked with Alfred toward the train station and joined the sea of all the umbrellas in London. "That would be lovely."

**Author's Notes: A belated holiday present for another friend on deviantart! She requested slight USUK based off the song "The Aspidistra Flies" by Stars. It's a gorgeous song that fits USUK very well, so I recommend you give it a listen! Please review and tell me what you liked or didn't like!**


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